The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2012 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

600 people reached the top of Mt. Everest in 2012. This blog got about 2,400 views in 2012. If every person who reached the top of Mt. Everest viewed this blog, it would have taken 4 years to get that many views.

OK folks… the 4th of July has come to an end. The fireworks have quieted down. Well maybe. I’m sure some of you are still being annoyed by the guys down the street who decided that one night wasn’t enough.

-The use of explosive devices that were it December instead of July, a visit from Homeland Security would be the immediate result

-Atomic grills being lit

-Possible pyromaniacs

Yes? You did? What? You were scared??!! Oh come on…

They were scotts! Nothing to worry about there (as long as you weren’t standing too close to the grill or launch area). You see, the 4th of July is one of the most celebrated holidays by scotts. You know, those wacky, fun-loving ones who never slow down. The ones you can’t not notice. No sparklers for these guys. Hell no. Rocket launchers, Roman Candles… the bigger the better. These would be in the arsenal of scotts on the 4th of July. Oh yeah, ground spinners too. They just love to watch other people trying to run away from them and have been known to create a contest complete with boundaries. Run out-of-bounds and you lose. So who are the last ones running in-bounds? SCOTTS!!!!

So there you have it. The scotts on the 4th of July. They’re sound asleep now after a non-stop action-packed 24 hours. But not for long…

“You need to accept that other people see the world differently from you. When you accept that, you will be ready to see it ‘through their eyes’ and get your message across more effectively.”*

Sounds like it came straight from the Wakefield Doctrine. In fact, the Doctrine is predicated on perception. The perception of three different personality types and how they each view the world in one of three distinct and characteristic ways. Once you have grasped these three different views of reality (piece of cake… check out this, this and this) not only will you be able to see the world through their eyes, but even be able to predict their behavior in any given situation.

This lends itself exceptionally well when it comes to persuading others to get the result that you want from them for your benefit. Sounds selfish and underminding. I know. But let’s see a raise of hands of who would relish the ability to do this. That’s what I thought. Whether it be negotiating a business contract, trying to establish a repertoire with someone or positively influencing a relationship I’d be willing to bet that you will get your way 99.9% of the time. Seriously! Here’s the deal:

1. Look at the situation through your eyes. This would be normal for you.

2. Look at the situation through their eyes. Imagine you are the other person to see and feel as they would about themselves. Look at yourself as the other person would see you.

3. Listen to yourself and the other person talking to one another.

Simply put, with the understanding of the three types, you have a lot more information about the other person’s perspective just from understanding their perception of any situation. This, in turn, gives you the most effective way to get what you want from the other person without them even being aware of the fact that you know more about them than they know themselves. Powerful stuff. The Doctrine will enable you to positively influence your relationships with others. And in doing so, you will be able to use this influence to your advantage. It is important to note that the intention of having this understanding of others is not meant to be used in a derogatory manner. So go try it. Have fun with it. I guarantee that in no time you’ll be saying to yourself “Wow! This is great! Now I can finally understand why people behave the way they do. I could’ve really used this a long time ago.” Well now you have it and now you can.

As you may have noticed, my posts are not written on a regular basis. I attribute this to being a scott. You know, the one chasing shiny things. Easily distracted. Funny as hell. The “life of the party.”*

That being said, as I sit here I am unable to come up with anything scintillating for a post. So, today’s post is taken directly from The Wakefield Doctrine (the theory of clarks, scotts and rogers). It consists of real-life personal experiences from each of the 3 types and will give you a better insight and understanding of each type. Rather amusing actually. What way could be cooler to see how clarks, scotts and rogers think than to actually see the world/experiences through their eyes? So click on the link above and enjoy!

Oh yeah, don’t forget to come back here and let me know, just from reading these experiences, which type you related to the closest. And any other remarks like, “Wow, now I get why (fill in the blank) can be so (fill in the blank)!”

*the life of the party, the scott, is not being entertaining because he/she likes you or your dress, the scott is simply establishing where the other scotts are, who is dominant and where the prey-type personality people are in the setting. (excerpt from the “Scotts” page of the Doctrine)

Have you ever caught yourself trying to change someone else’s opinion? Tell them they’d be “…better off if only…”? How many times have you disagreed with someone’s outlook or situation to the point of not even “hearing” them anymore?

Every person has his/her own perception of reality. Understanding these perceptions is instrumental in order to avoid being judgemental. In relationships, whether it be husband and wife, brother and sister, a friend, a co-worker, any type of relationship, tension is created when we don’t understand the perception of the other person.

Perception is the key component to the Wakefield Doctrine (the theory of clarks, scotts and rogers). It enables us to avoid most confrontation. After all, if we are judging other people then aren’t we essentially judging ourselves without even thinking about it? This does not mean that we have to agree to everyone’s opinions. But rather we can avoid getting overly-emotional to the point of becoming judgemental. In other words, when we understand that a person is a clark, a scott or a roger (or type a, b and c as the “professionals” would have you say) we understand their perception of reality. This is the most reliable and useful tool when it comes to understanding other people and where they are coming from.

You hear me refer to these 3 types in just about all of my posts. There is a reason for that. If you want to be able to go through life in a manner that it is almost conflict-free in any situation then it is imperative that you understand these 3 perceptions. I can guarantee you that the Wakefield Doctrine will give you the answer to your questions regarding other’s behavior (“Why is he/she acting like that and saying those things?” or “Why does she always have to be the center of attention?”). You will find yourself more willing to listen and actually “hear” what the other person is saying because you will know how they think. Once you understand the world that the other person is experiencing, you are then in a position to communicate effectively. Put another way, imagine that you were fluent in all languages. You then try to communicate with someone over a closed circuit TV, with the sound off. (You also have the ability to read lips). Until you know the language the other person is using to communicate, you will not be able to understand them or be understood….no matter what, no matter how hard you try or how smart you may be. And the added stress when it comes to relationships? Finally the relief from the frustration that you’ve been experiencing is here.

So go to the Doctrine and read up on the three types. It will be quite revealing. You will then know why a person acts the way they do and says the things they say. The lines to effective communication will be opened. And the tension (which leads to chaos) that you have been experiencing will no longer take hold of you.

Where to start? How would a scott answer that question without hesitation or reservation? OK then. No need to elaborate…

Alright then, moving right along. Bright squeaky balloons that are alive are a source of fun for a scott. But when they die, we (yes, I’m a scott) are sad for a moment (make that a fraction of a second). “Hey look!! There’s a shiny red ball!” And just like that we’ve forgotten about the dead balloon. It’s on to the next and the next….

You know those captions in cartoon pictures? Live balloons.

Men watching hot chicks on T.V.? Expanding balloons.

And we all know this one: “went over like a lead balloon”

How about those animal balloons that clowns make? A lot of children are afraid of clowns. And, admit it, some of you reading this are still freaked out by clowns. What if a clown sent you a balloon of a dead man? Of course they can do it! They make animals. Why not make serial killer death balloon threats?

Hot air balloons? You never want to be in one when it starts to deflate.

Ever take acid? I did once when I was in college (oh lift your jaw back up already) and everyone I saw had a balloon-shaped head. AND my fingers looked like balloons. I kid you not. What a trip that was!! Kind of reminds me of the lyrics to Comfortably Numb* (Pink Floyd) “…my hands felt just like two balloons…” Talk about psychedelic. All of you stoners remember.

Just a few of my takes on balloons. Now tell me that they aren’t a blast!!

*this song sounds even better now not being under the influence of anything mind-altering. David Gilmore is a genious.

See? It doesn’t have anything to do with personality types. But it’s a hell of a lot of fun. Plus, you can be part of it! Here’s the low-down. Over at the Wakefield Doctrine (the theory of clarks, scotts and rogers) there is a Post Writing Contest going on. The only requirement is that the title must contain the phrase “a dead balloon is a dead balloon.” Yes, you read that correctly. Other than that anything goes. For details visit the link above. Send me your entry by this Friday the 13th (yes, I know) and it will be entered in the contest. Not only that, but your Post will be linked back to your site!

In a previous post (Still believe in the MBTI personality type theory? Think again…) I referred to the MBTI theory of personality types. And I still can’t wrap my head around why so many people decidedly commit to this theory. It is outdated and is certainly not “sound proof.” I’ve taken the test myself and the answers to a lot of the questions would have been “it depends” or “sometimes.” In other words the questions are not mutually exclusive. Furthermore, the MBTI is based on (and this is important) preferenceswhich are not stable over time. Finally, coming from David J. Pittenger assistant professor and Chair of the Department of Psychology at Marietta College:

There are even psychologists who not only question the MBTI, but say that it is not valid.

The following quotes are from David M. Boje, Ph.D., Professor of Management in the Management Department, CBAE at New Mexico State University (NMSU):

“…do not treat the archetype scores of M-B as anything more than Astrology”

“The test is not valid or legal to use for personnel assignments, hiring, or promotion. It does not have predictive validity for such uses. It is a useful guide, and no more. Problem is, people go to a workshop, get excited and treat M-B as a secret window into the mind of their co-workers.”

Robert Spillane, Professor of Management at the Graduate School of Management at Macquarie University argues that research shows that efforts to predict performance from personality and motivation tests have been consistently and spectacularly unsuccessful:

“[Tests] trivialize human behavior by assuming that (fake) attitudes predict performance. Not only is this incorrect but testers offer no explanations for behavior beyond the circular proposition that behavior is caused by traits which are inferred from behavior,”.

“The technical deficiencies of most personality tests have been known for many years. Yet they are conveniently ignored by those with vested interests in their continued use.”

Quite compelling coming from well-known psychologists.

The following is an excerpt from a forum on the MBTI theory:

Ok, so basically in real-time and space you have a whole bunch of SJs who spend their weekends at bake sales or dog races and love nothing more than to have everything organized and predictable, then you have the ENxJs… (I can visualize them) being talkative, but probably not hanging much together…. SPs are out doing their exciting power and pleasure games, whether that is in business, clubs or sports fields…. and then you get INFJs in their ivory towers of righteousness, INTJs in towers of super-strength-and-power, INTPs are locked up gestating ideas and INFPs are wobbling around without purpose, occasionally adopting purpose just for the sake of having one? And everyone’s too blind to see how weird this is? How is this a good system? Is this how it really works? Does it work?*

Back in 1986 I went to work for company in Rochester, MN. My 3rd or 4th day on the job, the boss told me that they were a “Meyers-Briggs Agency”, and said I had to take the test so that they could order the placard for my door, to identify me by my MB result. I refused, and was surprised that it was apparently a REALLY BIG DEAL to this agency. I remember saying that I’d do the MB if everyone would then get a tarot reading. I didn’t take the test.

I’ve been in the mental health field for over 30 years and yeah, I’ve taken a ton of these tests, mainly for shits and giggles. Aside from always having Mt. Everest on the MMPI 4 scale, the results of those tests never come out the same for me. Or for most people if they are honest (IME). I did go and take the test again, and struggled with what to answer because “it depends” in so many cases. This time around I came out ESsomethingorother. “provider”. While some of it may be true, the whole part about being really cooperative and a big team player, not so much. It also said that I’m really really gregarious. Not so much.

I recently had a kind of tarot reading and frankly it seemed more “me” than any of these tests. Most people are pretty complex animals, I just have a hard time with tests that try to pigeon-hole us into some “type”. Probably because I’m oppositional! I have the attention span of a gnat, but I think the result this time around was ESFJ. Whatever is called “Provider”.*

Ouch! to all of you MBTI followers. The overlap and inconsistency – no way in hell are there 16 distinctive types. How can this be when one’s preferences change at any given time or in any given situation? All of these types can be narrowed down to 3 personality types. Yes, just 3.

This personality type theory is called the Wakefield Doctrine(the theory of clarks, scotts and rogers). The key to the theory is that it is based on perception. How we perceive the world which, in turn, becomes the world we live in. The Wakefield Doctrine is predicated upon the idea that everyone experiences the world/reality differently from one of three overlapping but distinctive perspectives (not preferences). It also proposes that our personalities are but a result of our perception, of our habitual responses to the world. The Doctrine maintains that these characteristic perceptions of reality can be grouped into three distinct types, called for reasons stated elsewhere, clarks, scotts and rogers. These links will tell you everything you need to know about each type as well as a summary of the Wakefield Doctrine.

I tried yours. Now try mine (unless you happen to be close-minded in which case you should not even be involved in personality typage) and try to tell me that the Wakefield Doctrine is not a valid applicable tool for determining personality types. No tests with ‘forced-choice’ questions are required. Nor do they even exist as part and parcel to the Wakefield Doctrine.

The Wakefield Doctrine is predicated upon the idea that everyone experiences the world/reality differently from one of three overlapping but distinctive perspectives. It also proposes that our personalities are but a result of our perception, of our habitual responses to the world. The Doctrine maintains that these characteristic perceptions of reality can be grouped into three distinct types, called for reasons stated elsewhere, clarks,scotts and rogers. These links will tell you everything you need to know about each type.

When we say “experience the world” we don’t just mean things about you, we mean the way you see the world, the assumptions you make and how you feel about other people. In a word: perception. Perception is the key to the Doctrine. All are in keeping with the description of your type. Not as difficult as it sounds. Try this: if you are a roger that means that you know that the world is based on rules and that people who know these rules gather in relationships and groups, sort of like herds of animals do, common interests in common. As a roger, to your very soul, you know that the universe is quantifiable and organized. It is entirely natural for you to see the things in the world that demonstrate this quality of being quantifiable, so you tend to like things in an orderly, traditional arrangement. You are naturally attracted to work or studies that reflect this. Rogers tend to be engineers, accountants, judges, historians, members of the clergy. Anything that is based on natural organization.

The same applies to clarks and scotts. What our personality type is goes way beyond likes and dislikes, attitudes and interests. “Who” we are as personality types is demonstrated in what we do for work, what our idea of recreation is, who are friends are and what we reject the most in our daily lives. All in reflection, in support of our personality types: clarks, scotts or rogers.

Now one of the best things about the Doctrine is that you don’t have to take a test or a college course, you don’t have to pay someone money to test you and you don’t even have to know anything about psychology. In other words, none of the hoops and hurdles that most of the other personality typing systems require you to jump through before you can get any of the benefits. Here at the Doctrine all you have to do is to be able to step outside of yourself and see beyond the most basic assumptions you make about life and reality.

One thing about the Wakefield Doctrine that we often hear is “I read the description of the three personality types. Sometimes I think I am a roger and other times it is clear that I must be a scott. That must mean your theory does not work on me.” The reason this happens is that we are all born with the qualities of all three personality types. We become predominately a scott or a roger or a clark. The other two qualities do not go away. We always have them within and sometimes we will act like one of the other two types. Born with the potential to view the world in one of these three ways, all people possess the characteristics of all three but soon (by age 7 or so) become one of the three. Put another way: we all possess the potential to see the world as a clark or a scott or a roger. It is only the predominance of qualities from one (over the other two) that makes us who we are. No one is only clarklike or scottian or rogerian.

Psychology and psychiatry texts make constant reference to type A/B/C personalities and their interactions. We are somewhat along those same lines. For us, those references have evolved into our Wakefield Doctrine, which we have found to be much more palatable. To err may be human, but to create a categorization system that explains all there is to understand human behavior in a somewhat cryptic nutshell is absolutely divine. And we have noticed along the way a heck of a lot of fun. In an “improvisational academia” sort of way, we invent terms as we go along to describe conditions and situations that may not have existed previously. And yet, our system works perfectly well when taken totally seriously.

The value of the Wakefield Doctrine is that once you can see the world through the eyes of another, behavior becomes understandable. Not only is it a valuable tool for understanding human behavior, but it is also an immeasurable tool for self-improvement. It is not about replacing what you already know about yourself but rather enhancing it. Be open-minded and you will discover new things about yourself and others that you never knew and apply them. And because the Doctrine is about 3 personality types (and remember, we all some of each) it enables you to not only understand the perspective of the other two, but to also be in the world of the other two. It is an invaluable tool for relationships, both personal and professional. Furthermore, equipped with the knowledge of the Doctrine, you will know more about a person than he/she does. How much more beneficial can understanding human behavior via personality types be?

Now go read about each type and then come back here to watch an entertaining (to say the least) video from the Saturday Night Drive (info, time and number on the right). See? We have fun too! Clarks, Scotts and Rogers are all in attendance. See if you can identify each type and leave us a comment.

Once you realize which of the three personality types of the Wakefield Doctrine you are (clark, scott or roger) there’s no going back. Not only will your entire perspective of the people you know and the world you live in make complete sense, but in addition everything you did as a child growing up will as well. It’s pretty frickin’ amazing.

I was astonished by the fact that, not knowing at the time that I was a scott, how I spent my youth was exactly as it should’ve been for a scott. A little background: There were a lot of woods and streams where I grew up until about 2nd grade. I can remember spending hours exploring. Looking for beavers near their dams. Watching the fish in the crystal clear water (predator). As I grew older I was never really concerned with what people thought. I knew a lot of kids but had just a handful of close friends. I was able to run with any crowd at any given time. I guess this kind of made me a loner but in a good flexible way that I could use to my advantage (that predator thing again). Still do. But enough about me. Too many “mischief-maker” stories.

Try this: knowing “who” you are now, go back in time of your memories since the age of 3 or 4. Think about the stuff you used to do as a pre-pubescent child. How you interacted with other kids and friends.

Always felt like an outsider? (clark)

Daydreamer? (clark)

Always thought it would be better to be someone else?(clark)

You are at the 5th birthday party of your best friend…now start to make a wish and you blow out the candles (scott)

You decide that your wagon can keep up with a car if you put enough grease on the wheels and build a ramp off the roof of the porch in front of the house (scott)

Always felt like you needed to fit in and be like the others (roger)

One of those kids who was fascinated with creating live, working railroad tracks complete with a functioning train that blew out steam, railroad station with passengers, and carefully placed landscape. (roger)

Whoever you may be, isn’t it amazing to see yourself and say “geez, I really was/am a clark (or a scott or a roger)…” You will realize that you are the same person now as you were then as it relates to your personality type. It’s some damn cool stuff.

Special post today for our readers about the efficacy of the Wakefield Doctrine (the theory of clarks, scotts and rogers). If you have been following the Doctrine and are familiar with the premise and 3 personality types this is gonna blow your mind. And for those of you who are new go here and come back. It will all make sense.

As you know, we utilize the Doctrine in our everyday lives to understand not only ourselves but everyone else. To explain why people say and do the things they do. Everyone who starts with the Doctrine says/thinks the same thing: “I know I must be a scott but then sometimes it is clear that I am a roger…” Well that is, in fact, true. Remember, it is the predominant characteristics of each that determine “who” we are. I am a scott, but my other 2 aspects are always there below the surface.

What would you say if I told you that our other 2 aspects can also come out subconsciously while we are asleep in a dream state without any conscious effort to “bring” them out? After all our subconsciousness is actually the “in-filtered” version of ourselves.

Well it’s true! It does happen! How cool is that? Kind of scary? Maybe. You see, as we continue to grow the Doctrine we are learning new facets. Want proof positive? Well I’ve got it for you. The other night the Progenitor Clark had a nightmare. Go read what is was about here and then come back. Don’t forget to read the comments too. You’re gonna be saying “Holy Shit!!!”

tap, tap, tap… Oh you’re back!

So what do you think? The Doctrine never sleeps. Even when we do. This is both an amazing yet perhaps scary (in a good way) example of the validity of the Doctrine. Of how powerful the personality type theory of the Wakefield Doctrine is. If you don’t believe me then maybe you should go take a nap….